Some complain that Ayn Rand rejected people, and threw them out of her circle and her movement, because they "didn't like the right music," etc. This includes, for example, Murray Rothbard's short play, Mozart was a Red.

In going through some old papers, I found a discussion I had with long-time Ayn Rand fan Betsy Speicher about this. Betsy quoted Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand's executor:

On a daily one-hour show where he was doing an on-air biographical interview with two reporters from the Orange County Weekly, Dr. Peikoff was asked whether Ayn Rand rejected people who didn’t share her tastes in art. Here’s what he had to say, transcribed verbatim:

“If it were true that Ayn Rand kicked out of her circle or denounced or would not tolerate anyone who disagreed with her on things like music and painting, I’d like you to account for my continued existence as a close friend of hers for over thirty years plus being designated as heir.

“I loved Beethoven. I have a vast Mozart collection of which she knew perfectly well. I love Somerset Maugham whom she hated. [ …]

“She knew in great detail of the conflicts--such conflicts or disagreements as there were--and as long as you could specify what you liked in terms that were understandable in reason (and that were not an assault on reason, as I indicated to you before) there’s no such thing. It’s a complete, total lie.”

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Betsy continues:

As confirmation of this fact, give a listen to Ayn Rand’s “Fiction Writing” course which was taped at her apartment. There is one place where she discusses four love scenes. After the reading of one she asks: “Is there anyone who like this?” Her voice is dripping with utter disgust. There is dead silence on the tape for a while and then you hear Ayn Rand chuckling and saying, “Leonard, you would!”

There's probably a warehouse in the heads of those who were around AR quite a bit that might reveal lots of such anecdotes. Some of us would remember them, most of us probably have forgotten most of it. It's nice to know that there are some people who still have those memories. However, I caution everyone that they are just first-person anecdotes. I hope they are telling the truth, but there's no way to know for sure.

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MZJ

3/2/2016 04:29:27 pm

Certain facts in what's above are known independently of LP's say-so: the fact that he remained in AR's good graces and was named heir; and the recording of AR's comments in the "Fiction Writing" course, which Betsy quoted. These facts don't rely on his report, but support it.